MAY 30 • 2024 | 19

Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Acker
stressed the importance of “dialogue
and respectful exchange” with mem-
bers of the leaders of the new student
government. However, concerning the
stance of the pro-Palestinian encamp-
ment movement, led by the student
government, he said: “There appears
to be no place in this movement for
us unless we denounce the existence
of Israel.”
During the May 16 meeting, Regent
Mark Bernstein, whose property
was also encroached on, declared
that nobody should ever encounter
a masked and hooded man on the
front porch of their home in the
early morning making demands that
the university divest from Israel and
defund the police.
“It was a dangerous escalation
that we have rightly condemned,”
Bernstein said. “I will not be intim-
idated by these provocative tactics.
Nor will my colleagues on this board.
Nor will this institution. Our failure
to address antisemitism literally led
to the front door of my home. Who
is next? When and where will it end?
Enough is enough.”
Bernstein reiterated that not one
member of the TAHRIR Coalition,
comprised of 50 student groups, signed
up to make a public comment.
“The rhetoric that we are not listen-
ing is utter nonsense,” Bernstein said.
“There is a difference between listening
and agreeing. The fact that listening
requires agreement is false.”

PROTESTERS DRIVEN OUT
Officers from U-M’s Division of Public
Safety, dressed in riot gear, cleared the
pro-Palestinian encampment from the
Diag in the early morning hours of May
21. Media reports say the officers used
pepper spray to push the 200+ protest-
ers away from the Diag. Several arrests
were made.
According to a statement from
University President Santa Ono, the
university fire marshal determined the
encampment was a fire hazard, which
forced it to take action. He added that

the encampment was also a violation of
campus rules.
“Moving forward, individuals will be
welcome to protest as they always have
at the University of Michigan, so long as
those protests don’t violate the rights of
others and are consistent with universi-
ty policies meant to ensure the safety of
our community,” Ono said.
“To be clear, there is no place for vio-
lence or intimidation at the University
of Michigan. Such behavior will not be
tolerated, and individuals will be held
accountable.”

ELSEWHERE IN THE COUNTRY
In other parts of the country, admin-
istrators at Northwestern, Brown,
Rutgers, Johns Hopkins, the University
of Minnesota and the University of
California Riverside have met some of
the student protesters’ demands in order
to dismantle the encampments.
Several universities have agreed to
review their investments in Israel.
Other universities, such as Columbia
and George Washington, have called

police to forcibly clear protesters and
refused to bend to calls for divest-
ment.
“I can only speak to the University
of Michigan,” Hubbard wrote. “As we
clearly stated, we are not negotiating
with the protesters. We understand
the very real concerns of the Jewish
community. We have also received the
list of demands from the protesters
and have clearly stated ‘no’ to all of
them.”
During the public comment sec-
tion of the regents’ meeting, Claudine
Vainrub of Miami, Florida, a U-M
Ross School of Business alumna and
parent of two U-M students, spoke
on behalf of many Jewish parents and
students. She told the board that her
daughter had been called a “gross Jew”
by a campus employee. She urged the
board of regents to make distinguish-
ments between First Amendment
rights, academic freedom, and indoc-
trination of students based on anti-Is-
rael and antisemitic tropes.
“While at Michigan, my daughter
had to withdraw from three courses
where faculty used their classrooms as
pro-Palestinian indoctrination plat-
forms,” said Vainrub in an interview
with the JN. “We are all for academic
freedom, but these classroom environ-
ments were not places where a respect-
ful interchange of ideas was promoted.
Instead, professors intimidated students
and negated historical facts.”
Vainrub, who is a college counselor
for high school students, said several of
her students who were accepted to U-M
declined their admission and instead
will attend places like the University
of Texas in Austin, the University of
Florida, Southern Methodist University
and Washington University in St. Louis.
“These issues affect our university’s
integrity and the safety of all students,
not just Jewish students,” commented
Vainrub to the board. “As stewards of
this institution, we trust you to take
decisive action, fully enforce existing
policies and consider additional mea-
sures to prevent such behaviors from
eroding our university.”

Protesters caught
on video on Regent
Acker’s porch.